Oil and gas production wells will vary in the extent of production over time and low commodity prices will often dictate that it is more cost effective to halt production and re-start production when commodity prices recover.
The process of closing and securing a well with the intention of restarting it at a later date is known in the art as “well suspension.” This is done to protect the environment from any possible pollution. This process requires a significant amount of workover at the well. For a typical pumpjack-type well, the process for preparing the well for suspension will include removal of the polish rod, sucker rod string and pump, followed by pumping of anti-corrosive agents into the well before the wellhead is closed and secured. In addition, the removal of these components requires the use of a service rig operation and typically will take a crew of operators an entire day to complete the removal of the pumping equipment to install a wellhead to complete a well suspension. During reactivation, the process is repeated by installing the sucker rod assembly with a service rig operation. This process can be quite costly because once removed, the polish rod, sucker rod and pump typically require replacement at the time of restarting the well due to the probability of corrosion or damage.
In addition, the process of construction and disassembly of a sucker rod assembly during well servicing operations requires a service rig and is quite costly and time consuming because it is typically performed as a continuous task from start to finish requiring overtime.
The following list of US patents and published patent applications describes wellhead components, and sucker rods, as well as related tools and equipment: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,793,917, 4,060,249, 4,249,831, 4,467,871, 4,655,284, 5,137,083, 5,494,104, 5,549,158, 5,743,332, 6,223,819, 6,595,278, 8,141,633, 9,187,969, 20110198072, 20120088588, 20130213671, 20150099838, 20150107823, 20150114670 and 20150275610. Each of these documents is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for simplifying the process of temporarily supporting a sucker rod assembly in an oil or gas well for suspension or well servicing operations.